Crowd-funded tech projects to invest your money in

Crowdfunding is a great way to get big ideas quickly off the ground – and it’s where a lot of cool gadgets find their first legs too.

Crowdfunding is a great way to get big ideas quickly off the ground - and it's where a lot of cool gadgets find their first legs too. ET rounds up some interesting ideas that are currently in the funding stage

KICKSTARTER

SAM: The Smartest Smart Home Technology

SAM is something that could completely change your outlook on home automation. It comes in two variants - SAM Plug and SAM Strip. The plug has a single power socket while the strip has three sockets and two USB ports. Once you connect your home devices to SAM, it lets you remotely control them from anywhere using an app. In addition, you can schedule power on/off and monitor electricity usage in real time for any connected devices. SAM also has a built in motion sensor, ambient light sensor and temperature sensor - using these three, you can create rules to control your appliances.

iFind

A common complaint with many tracking tags and devices is that they use batteries which only last a few hours. iFind aims to change that by being the world's first Bluetooth item locator without batteries. It's made of biocompatible plastic and it uses electromagnetic energy for power. Since there are no batteries, iFind is just 2.4mm thick and can be attached with your devices or any other item that you frequently tend to misplace. Once you sync the tag with your smartphone, it can work up to 60 metres.

INDIEGOGO

Duet - Smart Bluetooth Tag

If you are in the habit of misplacing your smartphone, Duet is the solution you have been waiting for. This compact and lightweight Bluetooth tag will instantly alert you with loud beeps when you move more than 10 metres away from your smartphone. With the push of a button on Duet, you can also have your smartphone ring loudly (even if it's on silent mode). It connects with your smartphone using Bluetooth 4.0 and has a built-in replaceable battery with a lifespan of 6 months. The free companion app also offers advanced options such as location based rules. For instance, it will not raise an alarm if you leave your phone somewhere inside your own home. The tag can also be used in reverse. Keep the Duet Tag with your keys, bag or any other item and track it using the free app on your smartphone.

DIMPLE.IO

There are always a few functions that you want to keep handy on your smartphone. The most common being the function of using your camera LED as a flashlight. Wouldn't it be great if there was a dedicated button for your commonly used functions? Dimple is the answer to this question. It is a small, waterproof sticker that adds user configurable buttons on compatible Android smartphones. It can be stuck anywhere on your Android smartphone and it works via NFC. Using the free app, you can configure each button for a function of your choice (such as flashlight). You can also assign different functions to long presses of the button.

GOkey

Don't be fooled by the small size of this device. While it may look ideal for a keychain, GOKey hides a small battery, flash storage, Bluetooth and a charging cable to connect and charge your smartphone. Its builtin battery (400mAh) is good enough to provide emergency power to a phone for up to two hours. The built-in cable can be used to charge a phone or transfer data from a computer. When connected to a smartphone for charging, GOkey will first charge the smartphone and only post that it will charge its built-in battery. It will be available in 8, 16 or 32GB flash storage to keep your data handy. It can connect to your smartphone over Bluetooth and act as a phone locator within a radius of 100 feet.

XS Powercard

Your smartphone and wallet are the two things that you always carry with you. However, you could run out of battery on your smartphone with no option to recharge it. With the slim XS Powercard, you can carry a multi-utility device in your wallet all the time. The credit card-sized Powercard easily fits inside a regular wallet. It has a built-in 2,200mAh battery, a removable flash drive (available in 8/16/32GB storage) and you can get it in microUSB or Lightning connector variants. The automatic smart power management automatically switches the card on when it detects a connected phone.

PERES

How often have you thrown away slightly old food on the assumption that it has spoiled? A lot of food is wasted all over the world with this practice. Peres is like an electronic nose that can detect and inform you if food is fresh or not. Peres is advanced enough to detect and identify which food product is fresh, which one is hazardous to health and which one is sure to give you food poisoning. At the time of publishing, this project will be over in the next few days, so act fast.